The Apprentice
by drobny-szary-jeden
Summary: Hermione saves Severus after the final battle and becomes his apprentice. They're in love but too stubborn to admit it. Who better to force it out of them than an insane Trelawney bent on having Severus as her own? Inspired by Professor Chrystal-Snape's 'Our Inner Children'.


___Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J. K. Rowling. She created them and now we get to play! Wasn't that nice?_

* * *

The war was over. Hermione Granger and some of the others who had missed their seventh year at Hogwarts had returned. Severus Snape, who had survived being attacked by Nagini, was back as Potions Master. He'd received an Order of Merlin, First Class and full pardon for his actions in the war. It turned out that Dumbledore's death had been faked, so he was now back as Headmaster.

Hermione had taken up the position of Potions Apprentice under Professor Snape at the same time as finishing her studies and being Head Girl. As apprentice, she had a room in his quarters where she stayed instead of a dormitory. When her seventh year studies were over, she would stay at least four more years as his apprentice and another four if she wanted to go for a Mastery.

At first Severus had been rather irritated to find out that he'd been assigned an apprentice, (the whole thing had been the Headmaster's doing) but changed his opinion once he found out who it was. Hermione Granger. The girl who had saved him; who was his everything.

Severus now lay back on his bed late at night and thought back to the moment when he knew he'd fallen for her.

* * *

_"____It cannot be any other way,"Voldemort hissed, "I must master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last."_

___'No,' Severus thought in desperation. 'He can't kill me now. We're so close to winning... I need to see the end.'_

___Then Voldemort made a god-awful hissing noise and his snake struck. Severus collapsed to the floor as his master swept from the room. Trying to staunch the flow of blood from his neck, Severus was shocked to see the Golden Trio. The Chosen One leaned over him._

_"____Take it. Take it," Severus rasped, letting the memories flow from his body. He saw Granger shove a vial into Potter's hand as the memories were collected. Potter looked him in the eyes once more before everything went black._

___The next thing Severus remembered was waking up to the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. It was her, Hermione Granger. She'd saved him. He was laying in the grass under a tree, and he could hear voices in the distance. She was stroking his hair with one hand and waving her wand over him with the other, singing some sort of healing chant that he didn't recognize. It sounded nice, though. All around him smelled of magic and death. She was bloodied and dirty and had a bandage around her arm. A cut on her cheek was still bleeding._

_"____What... what happened?__"____ he asked hoarsely._

___She hadn't noticed that he'd regained conciseness, he saw from the way she jumped a bit and stopped singing._

___Then she smiled, "We won. He's dead. Harry killed him. And guess what, Moldymort dies and Dumbledore ____shows up! I should have known his death was a fake. He told them everything and you'll ____get an Order of Merlin, First Class."_

_"__Moldymort?" Severus laughed but cut off with a wince._

"_H____old still, please, Sir," she told him as she pulled a vial out of her pocket. "This may hurt." She slid her left hand into his and poured the contents of the vial over the snakebites on his neck. He crushed her hand in his, closing his eyes in pain. When it eased he opened his eyes back up and looked at her. She smiled again, "You may have scars, but you're not going to die."_

___He nodded, long past caring about scars. "You may call me Severus, Miss Granger. You did just save my life, after all. But only in private."_

___She laughed, "Then it's Hermione, and I'll keep that in mind, Severus."_

___He liked the way his name sounded in her voice. 'Doomed,' he told himself._

_"____I think Professor Dumbledore is planning to go back as Headmaster," she said after a moment. "Are you going to come back as Potions Master? Even Slughorn wasn't as good as you. I'll be returning to finish my seventh year, and then maybe I'll do an apprenticeship."_

___He nodded, "I believe I'll return." Severus knew he'd only said that because she'd be returning, but he didn't care. He shifted under her hand until she began stroking his hair again with a grin._

_"____I'm glad," Hermione informed him. "When you feel up to it, we've got to head back to the school. You'll have the hero's welcome you deserve, Severus."_

___He stared at her in awe, 'A hero's welcome. They think I'm a hero. And so does she.' He nodded. "Okay."_

* * *

Severus sighed, looking up at his ceiling. He knew there was no way she'd ever want him, but it was a nice wish___. At least I get to see her every day and will for then next four years or more. Maybe by then I'll work up enough courage to tell her how I feel. Probably not. _He looked at the clock on his wall, an hour and a half to midnight. That was when he got up, every night, and sat in Hermione's doorway for an hour or more just watching her sleep.

He was still thinking about her when he heard a huge crash, like glass breaking. Hermione screamed, "SEVERUS!" and he leaped out of bed and ran down the hallway to her room. He jerked the door open and squinted through the darkness, "Hermione?" The window was broken and there was blood on the floor and on the window sill, "Hermione!?"

There was a rock laying on the floor with a note tied to it, which he picked up and read.

___My dear Severus,_

___I have seen in my crystal ball that we are destined to be together.____Obviously the mudblood bitch you call your apprentice has tricked you into loving her instead. But fear not, my love, I will destroy her and free you and we can be together for all of eternity._

___- Sybil_

Severus' blood went cold, Sybil Trelawney was insane. ___How did she know? It's not that obvious... is it? _He gulped, better to save that question for a time when he could think straight. For now, get the Headmaster.

Running full speed all the way to Dumbledore's office, he got there in record time. "Lemon drops and treacle fudge," he panted, and ran up the stairs to the Headmaster's office. "Albus!" he shouted. "Get up, you old coot!"

A rather displeased-looking Albus Dumbledore appeared at the door wearing pajamas, "It's ten-thirty at night, Severus. What could you possibly need from me?"

Leaning against the door frame as he attempted to catch his breath, Severus gasped, "She took her!"

Dumbledore looked blank, "Who took who?"

"Trelawney. She took Hermione."

"What? How do you know this?"

"There was a crash and Hermione screamed and when I got to her room there was blood on the floor and a rock in the middle of the room with this on it." He handed the note to the Headmaster.

"Bloody hell." Severus blinked, having never heard Albus swear before. The Headmaster continued, "Well this is news. I never thought she'd take her obsession with you this far. And are you really in love with your apprentice?"

Severus turned pink and Albus' eyes began to twinkle madly. "Save it, old man. Where are they?"

Albus' eyes went out of focus, signifying that he was searching the school magically. He frowned, "I can't find them. She must have warded the area because nobody can leave or enter without me knowing, not even Tom Riddle could manage that one."

Severus swore and spun on his heel, running back towards the dungeons. "Severus!" Albus called, but he was ignored, "Don't do anything rash! Be..." Severus didn't hear the rest.

Once he reached the dungeons he went to Hermione's room, "___Accio _Marauder's Map."

The tattered piece of parchment zoomed into his hand and he tapped it with his wand, just as Hermione had shown him. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." _I'd never thought I'd see the day when I would be grateful to the Marauders. _He searched the map and immediately located Hermione Granger and Sybil Trelawney. They were on the astronomy tower. He hated that tower; it was where his nightmarish stint as Headmaster had begun.

"Mischief managed." Severus took a deep breath, grabbed his cloak, and set off at a brisk jog. When the tower came into view he stared, "She wouldn't... she couldn't... Oh, god." And he ran. Trelawney was attempting a soul snatching ritual – which had almost the same affect as the Dementor's Kiss.

When he got there, Hermione was tied up to the wall and Trelawney was lighting candles in a circle around a cauldron. There were lots of ingredients on a table off to the side. The ritual would take a long time, but so would disarming all of the wards around the area. Luckily, Trelawney wouldn't be able to see outside her wards, so Severus set to work. He could see and hear everything that was going on inside of the wards, but neither Hermione nor Psycho (as Severus now christened her) could hear anything from the outside.

As he worked, he heard her wake up. Hermione groaned, "What... what happened? Where am I?"

"You, my little mudblood," hissed Psycho, "are on your way out. Your soul will leave your body and Severus will be mine."

Hermione paled, "What makes you think that taking my soul will get Severus to love you?" She sounded brave, but he could tell she was terrified.

"As if you don't already know," the woman hissed as she turned the heat on below the cauldron. At Hermione's blank look she continued, "You actually don't! Ha! He loves you, you damn bitch! And without you in the way, he will be mine."

Severus watched Hermione's eyes as they went wide. She didn't look disgusted or horrified. ___Thank God. "_Oh, oh, oh!" Psycho cried, her eyes sharpening. "You love him too, don't you?" ___What?_

Hermione swallowed hard and took a deep breath, "Yes, yes I do." ___Holy Merlin! "_But I don't believe you. There's no way he could love me. I'm his apprentice and twenty years younger. Getting rid of me won't help you." ___I have to tell her. No wonder she's seemed a bit depressed lately. How could I ____not____ love her?_

Severus went back to work on the wards. He had just dropped them as Psycho finished the brew and was stepping towards Hermione. "_Petrificus totalus_," he whispered. Psycho went rigid and dropped to the ground.

"Severus?" Hermione whispered.

He cut the ropes binding her and caught her as she fell into his arms. She clung to him and shook as he stroked her hair, "It's okay. She can't hurt you any more."

"I thought she'd actually do it – take my soul," she looked up at him and swallowed nervously. "D-did you hear what we said while you were working on the wards?" _Smart witch, she knew those weren't easy wards to drop._

Severus nodded slowly.

She blushed brightly. "I... you... I-I'm so sorry, please don't be angry with me. I don't want to ruin our friendship," her eyes began to fill with tears.

He stared into her beautiful, caramel colored eyes that were filling with tears for a moment before pulling her closer and sealing his lips to hers. She froze for a moment before closing her eyes and wrapping her arms tighter around his neck. He could feel her warm tears on his cheek. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and she gasped. He used the opportunity to push his tongue into her mouth and explore every inch of it. She melted into him and when he pulled back she whispered his name in the most beautiful voice he'd ever heard before returning the favor.

Where ever she touched him, his skin felt like it was on fire. He wasn't surprised to feel himself harden when her tongue entered his mouth and she gasped again. ___Is she a virgin? _She only hesitated a moment before tilting her hips against his and causing him to groan into her mouth. When the need to breathe caused them to pull apart, he whispered, "I love you, too."

She mumbled something into his chest, where she'd buried her face.

"What happens now?" he asked, praying she'd give the answer he was desperately hoping for.

"I-I don't know," she told him truthfully, "but, could... could we... try?"

"I'd really like that," he whispered back, resting his forehead against hers, happiness flowing through him.

Albus ran up the stairs a moment later, to see Sybil Trelawney in a full-body bind and Severus and Hermione standing together, wrapped in each others arms. "What happened?"

"I disabled the wards, bound her, and saved Hermione," Severus said. "Now, call the aurors and get Psycho out of here."

Dumbledore nodded, looking rather dazed, before summoning his patronus and sending for the aurors. "And now," Severus told him, "we'll be heading back to our chambers. We'd planned to start working on that potion to hopefully help the Longbottoms tomorrow." The Headmaster nodded.

It had been an excuse, but one that worked. Severus scooped Hermione up bridal style and carried her all the way to the dungeons. She was half asleep in his arms. "You can stay in my rooms if you wish," he told her, "I know Psycho messed yours up a bit."

She smiled at him, the same exhausted but happy smile he'd seen on her face when she'd saved him from Nagini's bite, "Thanks."

He set her down on the bed and turned his back to strip down to his trousers. As he did so, she removed the gown that Trelawney had stuck her in, leaving her in just her light green, skimpy, semi-transparent nightdress. When Severus turned around and saw her laying on his bed like that, he thought he must have died and gone to heaven. He could see her lacy, green knickers and bra through the thin material. "Slytherin green, Gryffindor Princess?"

She laughed, "Not my fault the Slytherins got the best colors."

He grinned at that and slid into bed next to her. He noticed the way her eyes had traveled over his body, appraising him, before he'd laid down next to her. It felt so nice to be wanted. Pulling her closer, Severus held her, buried his nose in her hair and finally drifted off to sleep.

When he awoke the next morning, Severus was spooned against Hermione with one arm as her pillow and the other wrapped securely around her, as if to protect her. With her small body pressed against him, he felt himself harden immediately. She blinked a few minutes later and shifted back against him, innocently rubbing her arse against him. "Good morning."

"Mmm," he hummed. "Indeed."

"Do we actually have to get up? Can't we stay here all day?"

He groaned, "Do you really expect me to lay in bed with the woman of my dreams all day and not do anything?"

"Well... no, not really," she turned in his arms to look at him. "Just be careful, okay? I've never done anything other than kiss before."

___Knew it. _He was stunned. She truly loved him and trusted him so much that she wanted her first time to be with him. He had to swallow hard before he could speak, "Okay."

It was a blur of pleasure and a while later, the two of them fell asleep in each others arms.

* * *

Six months later...

Severus was nervous. He and Hermione had decided to tell everyone about their engagement (he'd asked her the night before) after she was given her certificate. She, being Head Girl, would be the last one called.

"Hermione Granger, Head Girl, who will be returning next year as Potions apprentice."

Everyone clapped as Hermione received her certificate. But instead of going to stand with the rest of her peers, she walked right up to Professor Snape and took his hand. A collective gasp rang out from the whole student body as all the Professors beamed.

"And," said Professor Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling like disco balls, "I would also like to announce that this summer, Professor Snape and Miss Granger will be married."

Severus bent over and kissed Hermione solidly on the lips. Then he took her hand and lead her from the Great Hall down to the dungeons as everything erupted into chaos. ___And it's all good._

* * *

___A/N: My first fanfic (though edited). Please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is welcome, but no flames please._

___And I wanted to thank Professor Chrystal-Snape for the idea, which I got while reading Our Inner Children. If you haven't read her stories, you really should check them out!_


End file.
